An Oak Ridge firefighter was injured in a fire in a vacant house on Artesia Drive early Friday, February 14.
The fire was reported at about 3:20 a.m. February 14.
When the Oak Ridge Fire Department arrived, firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming from the windows and eaves of the home, a press release said.
“The fire crew entered through the front door and quickly extinguished the fire in the kitchen area,” the press release said.
[Read more…]More methamphetamine than marijuana was submitted to Tennessee Bureau Investigation crime laboratories in 2019, a sign of a troubling drug trend, the TBI said Monday.
It’s the first time that’s happened since TBI crime laboratories began keeping detailed statistics, a press release said.
“Drug addiction continues to be a major issue in Tennessee, and I believe this sharp increase in methamphetamine has a connection to our state’s ongoing opioid epidemic,” said TBI Director David Rausch. “Drug abusers often flow from depressants to stimulants and back again. As more people struggle with opioid addiction many of them will—with time—seek out stimulants like methamphetamine. Unfortunately, those who run drug operations, often based outside the United States, know there’s an increased demand here. Alongside our local, state, and federal partners, we’ll keep doing what we can to dismantle these operations, but we’d also urge anyone struggling with drug problems to get help before addiction costs you your life.”
[Read more…]
Joshua Andrew Koch
A 42-year-old Anderson County man is facing federal charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine after a search of a home in Claxton in July allegedly found about 230 grams of a white, crystal-like substance thought to be methamphetamine and roughly 69.5 grams of a brown powder substance suspected to be heroin, according to state and federal court records.
The defendant has also been charged with federal financial and firearms crimes, and he has seven co-defendants in the case, although the charges vary by defendant.
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Note: This story was updated at 10:45 a.m. Nov. 26.
An argument between neighbors ended with a fatal shooting in Rocky Top on Saturday morning, and one man has been charged with criminal homicide, according to Anderson County court records.
The shooting was reported just before 8 a.m. Saturday on Willow Lane in Rocky Top (the former Lake City).
An arrest warrant filed after the shooting said the man charged with criminal homicide, George Michael Patterson, 64, had been arguing with his neighbor, David Ray Roach Jr., 43, in front of Patterson’s home. Roach was initially in his vehicle during the argument, parked in the roadway, the warrant said.
[Read more…]
The investigation of the death of an Oak Ridge man in an apartment in December 2014 remains active and ongoing, a state law enforcement official said Wednesday.
The death of Thomas Steven Thrasher Jr. is being investigated as a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tennesssee Bureau of Investigation at (800) TBI-FIND.
In response to questions, TBI spokesperson Leslie Earhart said she could not discuss any potential evidence in the case, including whether a suspect has been identified.
[Read more…]
Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m. Aug. 15.
CLINTON—A man who was reported to be suicidal had reportedly pointed a gun at officers before they fired their guns, fatally striking him, during a standoff with police near the city limits of north Clinton on Tuesday evening, authorities said.
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the man as Jerry Orlando Weaver, 51, of Clinton.
A 911 caller had reported a suicidal man with a firearm in the 600 block of West Broad Street at about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. The man was reported to be near the roadway with a gun, according to the TBI, which is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
The Clinton Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force responded. There were reported to be more than a dozen officers at the site. There was a standoff of about 15 to 20 minutes, said Dave Clark, district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County.
When they arrived, officers made contact with the man, who was threatening to harm himself, the TBI said.
[Read more…]
William James McMillan
An Andersonville man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday when he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his girlfriend’s mother four years ago.
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The young granddaughter who died in Oak Ridge in 2011 was malnourished and had been smothered, District Attorney General Dave Clark said Friday, after the child’s grandmother pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last Tuesday.
Emergency workers and law enforcement officers responded to a 911 call at Teller Village Apartments around 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, 2011. The grandmother, Valerie Stenson, now 54, was trying to revive her granddaughter, Manhattan Inman, using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, Clark said in a press release Friday.
“An autopsy reveled that the child was malnourished, and the cause of death was smothering,” said Clark, who is DA in the Seventh Judicial District (Anderson County).
Manhattan was two years and nine months old when she died, Clark said.
[Read more…]
Christy Viola Comer, 38, of Rocky Top, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of J.C. Copeland, an 83-year-old man, during an alleged robbery in August. Comer, left, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A Rocky Top woman has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of an 83-year-old man during an alleged robbery in August.
Christy Viola Comer, 38, faces one count of first-degree murder for the premeditated and intentional killing of J.C. Copeland, according to an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on March 5.
Comer faces two more charges of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Copeland while committing two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, according to the indictment.
The five-count indictment also charged Comer with those two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Comer took Copeland’s property violently through the use of a deadly weapon, and she entered Copeland’s home without permission, intending to commit a felony, according to the indictment.
Comer has an arraignment scheduled for the five felony charges on March 29 in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. [Read more…]
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has identified the man who died in a Monday night officer-involved shooting at Anderson County General Sessions Court on Emory Valley Road as Isaiah D. Ramirez, 26. Above, police investigate after a chase was reported along Emory Valley Road and there were reports of shots fired on Monday evening, Oct. 8, 2018. The parking lot at Anderson County General Sessions Court on Emory Valley Road was blocked off with yellow tape, and there was a large emergency response presence that included members of the Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Anderson County EMS, and District Attorney General Dave Clark, right. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m. Feb. 16.
An Oak Ridge police officer was legally entitled to use lethal force against a man who was driving toward the officer when he was struck by two bullets after a police chase in October, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said Thursday.
The shooting in the parking lot of the county courthouse and county offices on Emory Valley on October 8 killed Isaiah D. Ramirez, 36. The shooting was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is common in shootings that involve police officers. The case was assigned to TBI Agent Denise Woodby.
On Thursday, Clark announced that the investigation of the officer-involved shooting is complete. The investigation included a team of forensic scientists from the TBI Knoxville Violent Crime Response Team and forensic crime scene truck the day of the shooting, officer and witness statements, photographs and video recordings, laboratory testing and an autopsy, and evaluation of the crime scene and other observations, Clark said.
“Based upon the totality of the circumstances, Officer Nathan Gibson had a reasonable basis to believe at the time that the suspect, Isaiah Ramirez, posed a threat of death or serious bodily injury to him (Gibson),” Clark said in a press release. “Gibson met the requirement multiple times of verbally ordering Ramirez to stop. Thus, Gibson was legally entitled to use lethal force against Isaiah Ramirez. While gunshots were the immediate cause of Ramirez’s death, it was Ramirez’s own decisions and conduct that were responsible for his death. No criminal charges would be legal or appropriate against Officer Nathan Gibson.”
The results of the investigation were sent to Oak Ridge Police Chief Robin Smith. Among the findings, according to Clark: Ramirez, who had warrants for his arrest, fled from police in a pickup truck on Cumberland View Drive and forced two officers to jump out of his way to avoid being struck and narrowly missed another; drove around police trying to stop him and did not comply with verbal orders to stop, including from an officer who had his firearm drawn, or with police lights and sirens in a residential area and then down Emory Valley Road; and drove toward Gibson, who was standing with his weapon pointed at Gibson in the parking lot of the county courthouse and offices on Emory Valley Road. [Read more…]
CLINTON—The defendant in a criminal homicide case in Rocky Top in August had planned to rob the 83-year-old man who died because “it would be easy,” according to court testimony Tuesday.
The body of the victim, J.C. Copeland, who has been described as a “sweet old man,” was found partially wrapped in a pink blanket underneath a porch at a mobile home on Jacksboro Avenue on August 31, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent John Hannon. Copeland is believed to have been strangled until he died, according to court records. There was white rope around Copeland’s neck and other parts of his body, including his wrists and ankles, Hannon testified during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday.
Inside Copeland’s home, investigators found a fresh brown stain on the floor near his front door, white strings similar to the material found around his neck, and in one possible sign of a struggle, cigarettes on the floor, according to Hannon’s testimony. An acrylic painted press-on fingernail was found in the living room, Hannon said. It’s similar to the type of press-on fingernail that a woman might wear, Hannon said when questioned by prosecutor Emily Faye Abbott.
Outside the home, Copeland’s vehicle was missing.
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